


Comfort Toys

by Kellyscams



Series: Bucky Moments [4]
Category: Captain America (Movies)
Genre: Fluff, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-15
Updated: 2014-08-15
Packaged: 2018-02-13 06:04:12
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 985
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2139840
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kellyscams/pseuds/Kellyscams
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bucky's been having nightmares, and the Avengers have just the thing that might cheer him up.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Comfort Toys

Sometimes Bucky wakes up screaming. Most of the time, he doesn’t even remember falling asleep. He tries to stay up as long as he can, roaming the Tower halls, reading, exercising—he does anything he can to stay awake. For a while, it didn’t take that much of an effort. He was used to going until he completely ran out of steam. He’d crash just long enough to regain some energy and start over. That wasn’t working anymore. His body needed more and more rest.

This night, he wakes up thrashing about, yelling things in Russian, and his left arm smashes the lamp next to him in pieces. Bucky sits up, covered in sweat and breathing hard, with no memory of getting into the bed. Though he’s no longer yelling, he slaps his hand over his mouth. Straining his ears, he listens for movements out in the hall. When he hears none, he flings the sheets—wet from his sweat—away and goes to leave the room. As soon as he opens the door, he’s hit with relief, or maybe disappointed (he’s not sure which is stronger) to see Steve there waiting for him. 

"Hey," Bucky grumbles, arms wrapped around himself. "Did I wake you?"  
Steve shakes his head. “No. I was awake already. You wanna talk about it?”  
"Nope."

It’s a lie. Bucky actually does want to talk about it. He wants a hug and for Steve to chase the monsters away. But he doesn’t think he deserves it, not for these sorts of nightmares. Not the ones with scared faces in the darkness and screams in the night. His victims—at least, that’s who Bucky thinks they are. So as much as he wants the comfort, Bucky doesn’t feel he should get it. 

"Come on then." Steve says and begins to walk down the hall.

Bucky follows him, confused when Steve leads him into the entertainment room. Steve stops him when he goes to sit down on one of the couches.

"No, no." He smiles. "We’re not sitting there."  
"We’re not?"

He just shakes his head and then starts shoving all the furniture to the sides of the room. Once the center of the room is clear, Steve goes to the closet and returns with a handful of blankets and pillows and…

"What is that?" Bucky asks.   
"Pillows and blankets." Since Bucky rolls his eyes, Steve gives him the answer he wants and holds up the stuffed animal. "It’s a teddy bear."  
"Why do you have a teddy bear?"  
He shrugs. “When I have a bad dream and someone is around, I curl up next to them for a while—Nat, Bruce, Tony, Sam, anyone really. But when there’s no one, I hold this guy. I thought…” Steve trails off like he suddenly feels stupid. “I thought, maybe you could get a hug from him when you want one but, well, you know.”  
"You get them, too?"  
"Bad dreams? Sure. Waking up in the ice, crashing into the ice, Peggy hurt, The Commandos in danger…" Steve glances down. "You falling."

The bear is in Steve’s hand, his arm outstretched. Bucky takes it, and the two sit down on the floor with the pillows and blankets. Steve puts on Snow White. Bucky thinks he remembers seeing it with him a long time ago. They’re only about twenty minutes into the movie, when Sam wanders into the room. 

"What’s going on?" He yawns, rubbing the bottom of his palm into his eyes.   
"Just…having a sleepover." Steve answers. "Keeping bad dreams away."

Bucky warms with a blush when he sees Sam’s eyes drift down to the teddy bear tucked in his arms. Without a word, he leaves, only to return a few moments later with his own pillow, blanket…and a stuffed blue dog. He hands it to Bucky.

"His name is Little Sam." He tells him. "Had ‘im since I was a kid. You can borrow him."

Sam sets up and settles down with them. The next to find them there is Natasha. 

"Sleepover," Sam states. "Bad dreams."  
"Ah," She nods and retreats back to her room.

Like Sam, she comes back with her pillow and blanket. Around her neck is another blanket, this one pink and knitted. She puts it around Bucky’s shoulders. When she sits down behind him, she starts playing with his hair. 

Clint doesn’t ask questions when he comes in. He just glances around shrugs, and then gets his stuff too, bringing with him a big bowl of popcorn, and tosses a stuffed bird to Bucky.

"Don’t laugh." He mumbles as he takes a seat across from Nat, letting her put her feet in his lap.

Bruce hands him a magnifying glass with no explanation. Thor doesn’t have anything to give to him, but he joins Natasha in playing with his hair, adding what he calls ‘warrior braids’ to it. Tony and Pepper wander in right when they’re about to put on Sleeping Beauty. Taking just one look at Bucky, hair in braids, arms full of stuffed animals, pink blanket over his shoulders and a magnifying glass being twirled between his fingers, Tony leaves and comes back with a stuffed rabbit. Without a word about it, he gives the stuffed animal to Bucky, and he and Pepper join the group. 

They all spend two nights together having a sleepover, Bucky always managing to wide up in the center of all of them. By the third night, he insists he’s feeling better and that everyone can go back to their own rooms. When he gets to his in the middle of the night, he finds his bed covered with the stuffed bear, dog, bird and rabbit, the pink blanket, the magnifying glass, hair ties and a note.

'Just in case' it reads.

That’s the first time Bucky sleeps through the night alone. Maybe it’s because he finally doesn’t really feel alone.


End file.
